BOSTON (CBS) – A-123 once manufactured the advanced lithium ion batteries for Fisker, but then both companies ran into the same problem: too many ideas and too few dollars.

“Both companies ran out of money before they were able to be successful,” according to Andrea James at Dougherty and Company. “I think the Chinese firm that wants to buy the companies thinks that if it adds more money to them, maybe they’ll be successful.”

James says A-123’s new Chinese owner already owns a plant in Michigan, where Fisker could be manufactured.

James tells New England Business Fisker was very different from the highly successful electric car company Tesla. She says they both took dramatically different approaches to the technology itself, and the manufacturing process.

“Tesla went all-electric, they are not hybrids, they do not rely on gasoline, and Tesla insourced a lot of it’s design and manufacturing.”

WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Anthony Silva reports

A123 Makes Last Ditch Effort To Buy Fisker

“Fisker was developing an electric vehicle hybrid that also had a gas engine,” James continues. “That doubles your input costs, and Fisker outsourced a lot of their design and manufacturing to other established auto suppliers.”

A court hearing will decide the future of Fisker, and how much creditors will ultimately receive.